Carter's hat trick leads Kings past Blackhawks

Updated 11:57 pm, Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Teammates converge on Jake Muzzin (second from left) after his third-period goal gave the Kings the lead.

Teammates converge on Jake Muzzin (second from left) after his third-period goal gave the Kings the lead.

Photo: Jonathan Daniel, Getty Images

Carter's hat trick leads Kings past Blackhawks

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CHICAGO - Jeff Carter had a third-period hat trick and the Los Angeles Kings erased a two-goal deficit to defeat the Blackhawks 6-2 on Wednesday to tie the Western Conference finals at one game apiece.

Jake Muzzin and Tyler Toffoli also scored in Los Angeles' five-goal third period as the Kings became the first visiting team to win in Chicago in eight tries this postseason.

Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Saturday night in Los Angeles.

"Just sticking with what we need to do," Carter said. "You know, we've got a good group of leaders in our room. We've been through comebacks and whatnot a lot lately. Obviously, not something we want to do. But we stick with it, grind it out, get the job done."

The Blackhawks were in position for their fourth consecutive win before Drew Doughty's shot was deflected by Carter past Crawford, tying it 2-2 just 1:37 into the third. Muzzin's goal at 4:04 gave Los Angeles the lead.

"The way it turned on a dime like that, I don't know if we've seen a game like that all year where we're doing everything all right and all of a sudden, it was a disaster," Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville said.

Tanner Pearson then set up goals by Toffoli at 8:59 and Carter at 14:44, and Carter added an empty-netter.

It was the most goals allowed by the Blackhawks in a playoff game since a 6-1 loss to Detroit on May 24, 2009.

"Obviously, things unraveled during the third," Chicago forward Patrick Sharp said. "We're not happy. And we're looking forward to getting on the plane and making up for it in Game 3."